Floating Shade

ABSTRACT

The Floating Shade is a tethered hovering cover made of lightweight film kept afloat by balloons. It can be easily set up to provide solid shade that temporarily blocks off sunlight.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/429,886, filed Dec. 5, 2016, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field: The present disclosure relates to a shelter structure that can provide a large area of shade against sunlight and can be set up and removed quickly and conveniently.

Description of related art: Currently, traditional shelter structures for providing shade in the outdoors include tents, canopies, umbrellas, and stands. These structures usually are clunky and require long setup time. They also require poles and/or thick ropes to stand. Thus they cannot be conveniently applied to cover large areas or locations not suitable for planting many poles. For example, they are hard to apply over beaches, pools, outdoor events in a park, and sports fields.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Floating Shade is a lightweight shelter structure that comprises a cover kept airborne by multiple floating balloons. The cover and the balloons are connected to a number of tethers that are attached to the ground by anchors. The cover is lightweight so that its size can be very large and can be kept afloat by a small number of balloons and anchored to a location by small number of simple tethers, while covering areas unable to be covered by traditional tents. It can also be set up quickly to shield large areas from sunlight. In daytime, the Floating Shade provides relief from the sun without danger or need of time-consuming setup. In nighttime, the cover can serve as a large projection screen for movie projections or light shows. It can also be used to shelter crops to prevent radiative heat loss (frost damage) in cold, dry weather.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the overall structure of the current invention with the first preferred embodiment of the cover.

FIG. 2 depicts the second preferred embodiment of the cover, which includes a wire frame supporting a cover film.

FIG. 3 depicts the third preferred embodiment of the cover, which comprises a cover film with cuts to reduce air pressure.

FIG. 4 depicts the fourth preferred embodiment of the cover, which includes a wire frame system covered with fragmented film materials to generate a tree leaf-like shade and to reduce air pressure.

FIG. 5 depicts the fifth preferred embodiment of the cover, which includes multiple film segments to reduce air pressure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a form of coverage with a simple design that reduces the requirement of extensive setup and reliance on heavy grounded structures.

As depicted in FIG. 1, the basic concept of the Floating Shade is a cover 2 kept afloat by balloons 1 a, 1 b, 1 c, 1 d. The cover and the balloons are connected to a number of tethers 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, 3 d that are attached to the ground by anchors 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, 4 d. Under the sunlight, the cover 2 projects a large area of shade 8 on the ground (or, if the system is installed over water, the water.) The cover is lightweight so that its size can be very large and can be kept afloat by a few large balloons. The cover and the balloons are anchored to a location by the tethers and anchors. The balloons and the cover can also be set up and retrieved quickly.

The cover 2 can comprise a lightweight film that can partially block or filter sunlight. The balloons can be any type of balloons filled with helium or hydrogen gas. The tethers 3 a-3 d can be thin ropes. The ends of the tethers are tied to anchors 4 a-4 d. The anchors can be wedges or piles hammered into the ground, or weights (gravity anchors.) The tethers can also be tied to a grounded object such as a tree, a truck, or a fence.

To protect the lightweight film from tearing, the film can be strengthened by a wire frame structure. Depicted in FIG. 2, the second preferred embodiment of the cover 2 b includes a wire frame 9 supporting a cover film 10.

To prevent wind from exerting too much pressure on the cover, slits or cuts can be made on the cover to allow air to pass and relieve pressure. Depicted in FIG. 3, the third preferred embodiment of the cover 2 a comprises a cover film with cuts 5 to reduce air pressure.

Alternatively, a wire frame system covered with fragmented film materials, similar to a tree leaf-like structure, can be used as the cover. As seen in FIG. 4, the fragmented film materials 7 are attached to a wire frame system 9 a. The combination becomes the fourth preferred embodiment of the cover 2 c. The construction is easy to retrieve and store.

As depicted in FIG. 5, the fifth preferred embodiment of the cover 2 d can also be made up of multiple strips 7 a-7 f for easy retrieval and storage. The strips will leave gaps 6, allowing air to pass but still providing large shade areas on the ground surface.

The wire frame systems described above can also take the form of a net or mesh. The balloons and tethers can be attached to the cover not just at the corners but also in the interior of the cover area.

The Floating Shade's use as a shelter from the sun surpasses traditional tents. Its nature as a temporary cover allows it to be used not only during the daytime, but at night. The blank cover's underside can also be utilized. With some added décor, it would make a novel decoration at a night festival. Other nighttime uses include serving as a background for a projector, playing movies and laser shows. Alternatively, a single pattern could be projected as decoration at a night market, for presenters and advertisers.

The Floating Shade can cover large areas of both land and water. Major potential uses lie in agriculture and conservation—by sheltering crops in the nighttime, radiative heat loss is prevented, preventing frost from killing fruits and depleting soil. The structure would also be put up to shelter coral reefs, blocking them and preventing coral bleaching.

Example Design

Balloons: The Skin of the Zeppelin NT airships are known to be among the most resistant and aerodynamic materials. If used for the balloons, they would undoubtedly gain unmatched resistance to weather and damaging objects.

Manufacturer: ILC, USA

Final adjustment and pressure tests are performed in Friedrichsafen.

-   -   External layer: Tedlar (protective film UV-proof)     -   Intercellular layer: Polyester fabric (tear-resistant)     -   Internal layer: Polyurethane (weldable and leak-proof)     -   Weight: 250 Gramm/m²     -   Tear strength: 285 N/cm (28.5 Kg/cm)

Should 12′ balloons be sewn from Zeppelin NT Skin and filled with helium, they would be durable and strong while still being light enough to keep the Tedlar shade floating.

4×24 m³ Helium is required to fill 4 12′ balloons.

Cover: DuPont Tedlar; a biaxially oriented film with excellent resistance to weathering, outstanding mechanical properties, and inertness towards many solvents and staining agents.

DuPont: DEC_Tedlar_GeneralProperties.pdf

Tedlar Aircraft Grade ×64″ wide

-   -   Weight: 1 kg per 17.8 m²=0.056 kg/m²     -   Tear strength, propagating: 7-9 kN/m=700-900 kgw/m

The film can block 90% sunlight.

Tethers: Dyneema SK75 3 mm; a strong yet lightweight rope, it is a replacement to steel ropes. Breaking strength 9,300 lbs. Weight is negligible in calculations.

Lift calculations:

Volume=4πr ³/3=24 m³→if r=6, 24 kg lift by He

Surface area=4πr ²=40 m²→(if 250 g/m²)=10 kg

Subtract 24−10→Net lift 14 Kg/balloon

In conclusion, four balloons, with a total lift of 56 kg, may hold up a 900 square meter Tedlar cover (900 m²×0.056 kg/m²=50 kg) and provide up to 900 m² of shade. In comparison, 100 Eurmax Premium 10×10 ft (˜3×3 m) Canopy Booths would be required to cover the same area.

Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A shelter system that can provide a large area of shade against sunlight and can be set up and removed quickly and conveniently, the system comprises a cover comprising a lightweight film with a wire frame system, said lightweight film having a large area for providing the shade, said wire frame system being distributed over the large area of said lightweight film for strengthening and preventing tearing of the film; a number of floating balloons; a number of tethers with anchors; the cover and the balloons being connected to the tethers and anchored to a location.
 2. A system of claim 1, wherein said lightweight film comprises a Tedlar film and said tethers comprise Dyneema ropes.
 3. A system of claim 1, wherein the lightweight film comprises cuts allowing air to pass to relieve air pressure.
 4. (canceled)
 5. A system of claim 1, wherein the lightweight film comprises multiple segments with gaps in between to relieve air pressure.
 6. A shelter system that can provide a large area of shade against sunlight, can relieve air pressure due to wind and can be set up and removed quickly and conveniently, the system comprises a cover comprising-a wire frame system attached with fragmented film materials, said wire frame system being distributed over a large area so that said fragmented film materials also covering a large area for providing the shade; a number of floating balloons; a number of tethers with anchors; the cover and the balloons being connected to the tethers and anchored to a location.
 7. A shelter system that can provide a large area against radiative heat loss in nighttime and can be set up and removed quickly and conveniently, the system comprises a cover comprising a lightweight film with a wire frame system, said lightweight film having a large area, said wire frame system being distributed over the large area of said lightweight film for strengthening and preventing tearing of the film; a number of floating balloons; a number of tethers with anchors; the cover and the balloons being connected to the tethers and anchored to a location. 